St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew is now in Antigua and Barbuda where he will participate in the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
The high level conference, which has attracted global participation from more than 5000 prominent international figures and delegates, is taking place under the theme, Charting The Course Toward Resilient Prosperity. SIDS comprise 37 United Nations member nations and 20 associate members of regional commissions.
Over the next three days, heads of government, international agencies and other delegates will assess the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. It will result in the development of an intergovernmental, action-oriented political outcome document.
Ahead of the conference, a welcome reception was hosted by the Antigua and Barbuda government. Prime Minister Drew was not in attendance as he participated in last night’s Requiem Mass organised by the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party in remembrance of its departed comrades.
This morning, however, as he departed the federation on the inaugural flight of Sunrise Airways he commented both on the significance of the flight and his participation in the conference.
“I was honoured to take the first Sunrise Airways flight this morning from St. Kitts to Antigua with the airline’s founder and CEO, Philippe Bayard,” said Prime Minister Drew on Monday.
“I am currently in Antigua with a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Action, as St. Kitts and Nevis will be participating in the 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States where over 3000 delegates are expected to attend.”
Among others, Dr. Drew heads a delegation that includes Federal Minister of Environment, Dr. Joyelle Clarke.
Meanwhile, at last night’s reception in Antigua ahead of the start of the conference, United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, said, “We need justice in international relations and especially justice in international economic and financial relations. The people of Antigua and Barbuda, the people of the SIDS have not contributed to climate change, yet climate change is the existential threat of our lifetime, and you are in the frontline of the impacts of climate change.
“There is something deeply unfair in this situation.”
Guterres also addressed the disadvantages SIDS face, particularly in the Caribbean. He noted that the economic transition to tourism has caused them to be classified as middle income nations which bars their access to grants and concessionary loans when faced with devastating, upending crises such as hurricanes.
“Because you are middle income countries in a world in which GDP works as God, you have in the majority of situations no access to concessional funding, no access to debt relief, even if you suffer more than any other state in the world. The impacts of climate change, the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in relation to prices and interest rates, and to the fact that your economies are deeply impacted negatively by the way the world economic and financial rules are established.”
The 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States, which began today, concludes on 30th May.
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